Rain-wary Mumbai stays at home
MUMBAI: One person died in a rain-related incident and fliers travelling in and out of Mumbai were the worst affected on Wednesday,asanxiousMumbaiitesdecided nottotakeanychances, with the memories of the August 29 deluge still afresh.
Schoolsandcollegeswereshut and people chose to stay home.
Attendance was thin in offices across the city, although local trains were running with slight delays and the roads were clear.
Waterlogging was reported fromseveralareasasthecitywitnessed intermittent showers, after heavy overnight rain.
Therainintensity,too,waslow during the high tide at 12.01pm anditrainedmoreinthesuburbs than in the island city, where most low-lying areas go under water.
Thursday is expected to bring respiteastheweatherbureauhas predictedafewspellsofrain,with isolated heavy showers.
Theairportoperations,which were hit since Tuesday night after the main runway was shut for flights, are also set to normalise.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which faced flak for the August 29 deluge, was also more alert and better prepared this time around. CivicchiefAjoyMehtaandother senior civic officials did the rounds of pumping stations to monitor the situation.
The lone death reported was from Vasai, where 26-year-old Akash Rai, who was riding pillion, drowned to death after his friend, Rajesh Bhosale, 32, drove hisbikeintoanoverflowingpond. The police recovered Rai’s body, butwereyettofindBhosaleatthe time of going to press.
Over180flightsattheMumbai airporthavebeencancelledsince Tuesdaynightduetoheavyrains and closure of the main runway after a SpiceJet aircraft skidded off the runway and got stuck in mud, blocking it.
According to airport sources, NOTAM (notice to airmen) has beenextendedtill6amonThursday,whichmeansflightswillcontinuetooperatefromthesecondary runway, which has a limited aircraft handling capacity.
“As many as 183 flights have been cancelled since last night, besides dozens other diverted to nearby airports due to the prolonged closure of the main runway in the wake of the SpiceJet aircraft incident,” a source said.
“The process of removing the stranded aircraft from the runway is going on for the last 22 hours with the help of Air India but to no avail,” the source said.
Till 5pm on Wednesday, 63 flights of the Jet Airways, eightof IndiGo,twoofSpiceJetandoneof GoAir were cancelled, a statement from the airport said.
As many 56 flights were diverted to nearby airports till Wednesdaymorning.Theairport operator said efforts to tow away the stranded aircraft and clear the runway had been hampered due to incessant rains.
“The process of removing the aircraft has been affected due to continuous rains, resulting in soft soil in the area. NOTAM for closure of the main runway is beingextendedupto6amtomorrow,” a Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) spokesperson said.
Minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha tweeted, “#AI team assisting #RescueOpera- tion in removal of #SpiceJet acft from#BOMrunway,theonlyairline in India to offer this type of facility (sic).” Torrential rain batteredMumbaianditssuburbsfor the second consecutive day on Wednesday, causing a massive disruption in flight operations anddelayingsuburbantrainservices.